Pics: Cops escort Autopax buses

Published Jul 6, 2015

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Pretoria - Commuters in Mamelodi are relieved after AutoPax buses began their operations on Monday morning after violence erupted last week in the township.

Nontobeko Mkhwanazi, 35, said she was afraid she would lose her job after missing 3 consecutive days as a result of the wave of violence that swept across the Tshwane township last week.

“I am just happy that the government is doing something about this. Taxi drivers shouldn't have taken out their disappointment out on us as commuters,” Mkhwanazi said.

She was one hundred of people who were seen lining up at bus stops on Monday morning.

Violence flared up last week Wednesday when taxi operators stopped buses at the Mamelodi depot. Taxi operators claimed that they had an agreement with the City of Tswhane which would enable them to take over the subsidised routes.

Buses were escorted by two to three police vehicles while there was a heavy police presence in the township with police manning the bus stops in the township as part of Operation Fiela. Taxis were also being checked for permits while some were impounded.

Tshwane Metro Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said there were no disruptions reported as yet and buses were running as scheduled.

"The operation is still ongoing but we will confirm the figures of the number of taxis impounded at a later stage," Mahamba said

The disruptions escalated on Friday when one person was left wounded while four sustained minor injuries after a Putco bus was shot at by unknown assailants. About seven buses were pelted with stone between Wednesday and Friday while thousands of commuters were left stranded.

AutoPax was given a contract that was relinquished by Putco after the latter opted to end its contract with the Department of Transport citing loss of income.

Pretoria News

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